And still the rain falls
by Ikuzo
Summary: Sasuke had a change of heart after Naruto and Sasuke's battle at the Valley of the End. Now they're fighting together to show that true friendship is never completley broken. With teachers like Kakashi and Jiraiya, they might just get strong enough to accomplish that. Naru-Hina pairings and possible Sasu-Konan
1. Chapter 1

***Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction. Only the original techniques I have created. If I did, do you really think I'd bother to write this disclaimer?*** 

Normal text: Character dialogue/normal text  
**Bold text: **Bijuu/bijuu-mode  
_Italics: _Character thoughts  
Underlined text: Jutsu name 

**Chapter 1**  
**Can't take it anymore  
**

****

It hurt.  
His whole body hurt.

Naruto couldn't bring his thoughts together long enough to focus on which part of his body hurt the most.  
Probably the gaping hole in his chest.  
Yeah...that seemed to be a good start...

The thunder began to quieten as a soft rain fell upon the Valley of the End.

The sound of metal hitting the ground next to his head managed to rouse Naruto from the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, long enough to identify the scratched leaf hiate come to a rest beside him.

"Why?...Why did you hold back Naruto!?"

"_Sasuke..."_

The name swam sluggishly through his head as he processed the words yelled at him.

"B..because we're teammates...and we're friends...Sasuke..."

"No! You know that we're through! I'm going after Itachi and Orochimaru is my only way to him! You know that there's nothing you can do about it...so why do you keep coming after me!?"

**Drip...Drip...Drip**

He wasn't sure if that was his own blood, or if he was hallucinating...but still the dripping grew louder.

"Answer me Naruto!"

**Drip...Drip...Drip**

****

"Sasuke...come...closer..." 

Sasuke hesitated slightly before slowly moving over to Naruto, crouching beside him. He knew he Naruto didn't have much longer left until...

"Sasuke...I will never stop finding you...no matter where you go...no matter how many times I'm knocked down...because...you're my friend."

Sasuke stiffened as Naruto's words left his mouth. Suddenly, all his anger had deserted him. His ate was still burning, but now was only compared to embers smouldering inside of him.

**Drip...Drip...Drip**

"I think...this might be the end..Sasuke..."

Naruto started to rise, only to fall back down again and begins coughing on his own blood. 

"Naruto...please...Don't get up..."

"It's ok Sasuke. I don't think I could if I wanted to..."

**Drip...  
Drip...**

A weak chuckle drifted from Narutos' failing lungs and he relaxed into his lying down position again before muttering:

"I think it's time for me to go now..." 

Sasukes' eyes widened.

"No! Please Naruto! Don't leave me! I can't lose you! Not like this!"

"Come on Sasuke...Don't be a baby."  
Naruto added with a bloody-smirk.

**Drip...**

Finally, Naruto closed his eyes and gave one final shudder...  
And then he was still. 

Sasuke was stunned. Naruto can't be dead...He just cant be!

Sasuke scooped his friends' crumpled form into his arms without thinking and started running.

He didn't care which direction he was running in. It didn't matter.  
All that mattered right now was trying to save Naruto.

All of the pain inside, amplified by the fact that his best friendl ay unmoving, unbreathing in his arms with an arm-sized hole tunneled through his chest finally started to take its toll.

Sasukes eyes were blurred with tears as he reached the treeline and began to leap from branch to branch as fast as he could run.

His friend...his only friend...dead...  
It can't be over...  
Not if Sasuke could help it.

The tears flowed freely now, staining his bruised face as he sped onwards towards wha he hoped was the leaf village.  
Sasukes' foot snagged on a branch and he went down hard, crashing through at least 5 branches on his way to the forest floor, Narutos' unmoving body crashing in a heap beside him.

Sasuke moaned and crawled closer to his friend, coming close enough to link his fingers with the cold, lifeless hand beside him.

Reality started cutting in and out for Sasuke, when suddenly, a rustle of leaves was heard from across their landing site.

He tried to find the strength to raise his head, but a steady running pace was heard bursting from the bushes where the sounds were coming from. The fight with Naruto had taken more out of him than he realised. 

A sharp intake of breath was heard as the stranger came closer. 

"Sasuke...What have you done?" 

A glint of silver caught Sasukes' eye as he managed to turn his head slightly to the right.  
His gaze was focused enough to make out the distinct bone-white hair of the stranger who approached him and his friend.

He moved feebly to protect Naruto's body from the possible aggressor, when he felt a cool hand press up on his cheek.

"Ka..Kakashi-Sensei..."

And then the suffocating darkness rushed to meet him as Sasukes' head fell backwards onto the forest floor.

***Chapter End***


	2. Chapter 2: Unwanted Apologies

***Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction. Only the original techniques I have created. If I did, do you really think I'd bother to write this disclaimer?*** 

Normal text: Character dialogue/normal text  
**Bold text: **Bijuu/bijuu-mode  
_Italics: _Character thoughts  
Underlined text: Jutsu name 

**Chapter 2  
Unwanted Forgiveness**

  
Drip...Drip...Drip...  


Naruto awoke with his head throbbing. Slowly rubbing his eyes, he managed to rise to a sitting position in the ankle deep water he was lying in.

Dimly, Naruto raised his head to the towering gates before him, as he started to remember what had happened. Panic was quickly rising in his chest as he painfully pulled himself to his feet and forced himself to stand. The colossal red gates. Eerie, soft glowing water. The constant dripping of the ceiling above him.

He was back in his mind-scape.

But if he was in his mind-scape, then that would mean...

**"ROOOARRRR!"**

Naruto was blown backwards with a massive burst of force from behind the crimson gates and slammed into the nearby wall, smacking his head painfully against what seemed to be a slab of concrete, jutting from the floor. Getting to his hands and knees, he raised his head to what he truly hoped what it wasn't.

**"You've really done it this time you little bastard! Get your ass over here and start explaining, before I tear out your intestines and decorate my cavern!"**

Naruto sighed:

"Yeah yeah Kyuubi, settle down already. I really hoped I'd be waking up to Sakura-chans' face right about now, but now I've got to deal with your ugly mug...So just cool it, alright?"

**"Don't use that tone with me brat! You could have gotten us both killed with that stupid move you pulled back there! What the fuck were you thinking!?"**

"...To be honest...I don't really know myself..."

Kyuubi relaxed a little at the depressed tone that Naruto had adopted, and tried to soften his words a little to cut him some slack.

**"Now Naruto. I know you might think that you and Sasuke can be all buddy-buddy with eachother after this...but I have to say I don't think it's going to work like that. I mean, just look at what he pulled in your last fight together. You've still got the marks to prove that you truly mean nothing to him now."**

"But Kyuubi, didn't you see that look in his eye? Before I passed out? We're still friends...I just know it..."

**"But Kit..."**, Kyuubi began to rumble

"No but kits! I know I can get through to him!"

**"You might be able to get through to him now, but what happens when he gets offered power again? What will you do when he comes at you with murder in his heart and hate in his soul? Where will your friend be then?"**

Naruto paused.

"He'll be in there somewhere Kyuubi. Just you watch."

Kyuubi let out a small chuckle,

"_Little fucker's too blo__o__dy optimistic. Just like his damned parents..."_

**"Humpf. Whatever Kit. It's just a good thing my youki was enough to keep you alive. Even so, another ****centimetre**** closer and your heart would have been too fucked up for even me to save it. ****I really don't think you realise how close to death we both were...****"**

"Ah well Kyuubi, you know me. Stuff like this is a usual thing, right?"  
Naruto replied, while flashing a foxy grin.

**"Pull your fist out of your ass and get out of my cave. I can see you're going to be fine. Just know that next time I see you back here, I'll be expecting a reward. Got it?"**

"You got it Kyuubi! I guess I'll see you later."

**"Humpf."**

"Oh, and Kyuubi..."  
Naruto began,

"Take a bath why don't you? You smell like wet fox. I can smell it from all he way over here!"

Kyuubi spluttered as he quickly rose to his feet, charging at the gates that separated him from Naruto.

**"Why you little-!"**

By the time Kyuubi could finish, Naruto had vanished in a flash of white light.

**Naruto wakes**

Blinking his heavy eyelids, Naruto opened his eyes, wincing at the sharp pangs running through his pupils as the bright light invaded his consciousness.

The soft blankets hugged his form as he swung his legs off of the bed and onto the cool hospital floor.  
Man, did Naruto hate hospitals.

He had to get out of there as fast as he could, before the dreaded nurse would bring him the bane of his existence. Hospital food. Stale, tasteless and bland scum that they seemed to scoop out of the bedpans from the hospital patients made Naruto dry retch at the thought.

Slowly hobbling towards the door with his hand outstretched towards the doorknob, Narutos' groaning limbs suddenly gave way and sent him sprawling face-first onto the marble floor.

"Good to see you up and moving again Naruto."

_That voice...Baa-chan?_

"Yeah yeah Baa-chan, help me up will ya?

"Humpf. Ungrateful brat."

Tsunade entered the room and gently heaved Naruto's arm over her shoulder, guiding him back to his bed, sitting heavily with him on the corner of the bed.

Naruto looked closely at Tsunades' face and realised she has been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and if the shadows under her eyes were any indication, she hadn't slept in days.

He was about to ask her what was wrong, when suddenly memories of his and Sasukes' fight rushed back into his brain.

"Baa-chan! Where's Sasuke? Is he ok!? Did I stop him? Did the snake-bastard get him? Is he in any trouble? Did he...?"

"Naruto! Calm down!"

The strict tone of Tsunade quickly shut Naruto up, but not for long. He just had way to many questions.

Tsunade began with a sigh:

"Now Naruto. You've been in hospital for four days now. Kakashi managed to somehow stumble across you and Sasuke in the forest on the outskirts of Konoha. You both were suffering from severe chakra exhaustion, with some severe internal bleeding. Sasuke had a few broken ribs and multiple fractures throughout his body, but it seemed that you bore the most of it.

You had a lot of the minor injuries that Sasuke had, but your worst was the injury you sustained to your chest. To be honest Naruto, it's a miracle that you're alive right now. If Sasukes' chidori was only a fraction of a centimetre to the right, your heart would have been too damaged for us to repair. If Sasuke didn't act when he did, or if Kakashi didn't get to you two in time...I don't really want to think about it. You scared us Naruto."

Naruto listened silently, slowly nodding his head in recognition of Tsunades words.  
He slowly began to respond with some carefully though out words.

"Tsunade...I have sometime to tell you... You have to promise to at least hear me out before you start rounding on me. Ok?"

"...Alright Naruto. Go ahead."

Naruto paused.

"I spoke to the Kyuubi."

Tsunade stiffened at this, but said nothing, allowing Naruto to continue.

"He said the only reason that I'm alive is because he had to intervene to stop us both from dying. He had to use his chakra to keep us alive long enough to be found. Although, even he had a hard time holding me together. What you said about Sasuke...about if he didn't act when he did...I'd be dead Baa-chan. I'd be dead and you know it. But there's something else that Kyuubi said, and I want you opinion on it...If Sasuke was offered power like that again...Do you think he would abandon us again?"

Tsunade had relaxed slowly throughout the course of the explanation, and begain with a sad sigh.

"To be honest Naruto...I don't know. I think the Uchiha brat should burn in hell for what he did to you, but...If you truly think he can change...Don't quit on him. I know that when Naruto Uzumaki sets his mind to something, he'll accomplish it with his final breath. I'm not saying I like it, but I know that you'll do the best you can Naruto, for your friends, for this village, and for you."

"Thanks Baa-chan."

"Yeah yeah, whatever kid. Anyway, I've got work to do. Give me a sacare like that again though, and I'l put you back in here. You hear me?"

Naruto raised his fingers in a mock salute, which made tsunade pinch the bridge of her nose. She walked away, shaking her head.

Naruto slumped in his bed once more, silently sighing in relief that his friend was ok. When suddenly, shouting could be heard from down the hall, which sounded much like the hospital receptionist.

"Hey! Uchiha-san!You shouldn't be out of bed yet! Get back to bed right this instant!"

The sound of foot steps became more pronounced as they got closer. The door to the roomwas thrown open, and a very dishevelled Sasuke Uchiha stumbled into the room.

Still wearing his hospital nightgown, and huffing like a man who had just run a marathon, Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight of Naruto, conscious and breathing.

A dead silence came across the room as both boys stared at each other for a full minute, before Sasuke started bumbling over his words.

"Na...ru...to...I'm so...sorry..."

"Sasuke..."  
Naruto looked his friend full in the face, and rose shakily to his feet.

Attempting to hobble over to his friend, Sasuke saw what he was trying to do and met him half way.

They stood a little over a foot apart, before Naruto put an end to the tense silence that had engulfed the room.

"It's alright. I'm just glad that you're ok."

Sasuke suddenly got very choked up as they rushed towards each other, pulling themselves into a hug.

Sasukes' tear ran slowly down his face as he hugged his friend. Naruto was smirking to himself, but could feel his own tears begin to cascade down his cheeks.

Both friends just stood there, holding each other for what seemed like an age, before they released each other from their physical apology.

When they did break the hug, they both knew what it meant.

All was forgiven, and now finally, they can begin their new lives. Together, as friends.

***Chapter end***

A/N:  
Hey there guys,  
I'm still kinda new to he whole writing fanfics thing, so any reviews are much appreciated! Like, seriously, knock yourselves out!  
Sorry to those that might feel like I'm making Naruto and Sasuke into crybabies, but that's just going to be the way they roll, for those first two chapters at least.  
Don't worry yourselves though, NARUHINA IS COMING :D along with some wicked senseis like Jiraya and Kakashi. Konan will be making an appearance later in the fanfic, but how much later I truly cannot tell. Anyway, thanks for reading my fanfics so far, and I hope you enjoyed them! _**More will be coming!**_


	3. Chapter 3: High stakes and heart breaks

***Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters mentioned in this fanfiction. Only the original techniques I have created. If I did, do you really think I'd bother to write this disclaimer?***

Normal text: Character dialogue/normal text  
**Bold text:** Bijuu/bijuu-mode/summon  
_Italics:_ Character thoughts  
Underlined text: Jutsu name

**Chapter 3**  
**High stakes and heart breaks**

Kakashi smiled as he watched the two boys in the doorway. He knew it was going to be a long road for those two, but if anyone could do it… it would be them.

_I hope they make it. I hope they got the chance that we never did…Obito_…

He cleared his throat as he stepped into the room and watched the friends turn to him. Narutos' face immediately lit up, while Sasuke cast his eyes down in shame at the sight of their Sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei! It's good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too Naruto."  
Kakashi replied with an eye-smile.

"I hope you're recovering well?"

"You betcha sensei! I'll be back on my feet and ready to learn some cool new jutsu in no time."

Kakashi sweat dropped after Naruto said this, and nervously replied;

"Um..actually Naruto…I can't teach you anymore."

"WHAT!?"

The shock on Narutos' face was plain as day, until he fixed Kakashi with a slight glare.

"You'd better start talking sensei, because I've been itching to get out of this bed for days now…and a few well-placed pranks seems like the perfect way to get back into the swing of things…"

Kakashi paled as he recalled Narutos' last prank. The ANBU were still trying to scrub the paint off of their masks even three months later, not to mention the ridiculous moustache that Guy had managed to just remove from his face a week prior.

"I think it's time you went to Mt. Myobokuzan to train with Jiraiya and the toads part time. You will be granted temporary leave to study under the toads in the art of senjutsu, with Jiraiya teaching you some of his signature jutsu. It would much benefit you over there training, rather than training here with us holding you back."

Naruto brightened, if only slightly at the mention of the toads, and their perverted summoner.

_Training with the toads, huh? That wouldn't be so bad I guess…_

Naruto thought,

_But…that would mean leaving my friends behind. Sakura…Kakashi_…_and Sasuke_…  
_I only just got him back dammit,_ _I can't let him go again!_

"I'll do it Kakashi-sensei, but only on one condition."

Kakashi eyed Naruto warily and sighed;

"I don't know if I can promise you what you're going to ask for Naruto…but go ahead."

"I'll only go if Sasuke can come too."

Kakashi opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by someone entering through the window.

"Sorry kid, no can do."

Jiraiya landed softly on the hospital floor, with his sandals clacking slightly on the marble.

He regarded Sasuke with a slight nod of his head and a soft grunt, and then turned to Naruto.

"Only the toads can choose who enters Mt Myobokuzan, and I don't really think they'll be able to bend the rules this time. It's bad enough you summoned Gamabunta in the middle of your fight with that sand-village kid without offering him a reward. I think you're going to have to tough that one out anyway."

"But Ero-sennin!"

"No buts Naruto. I'm sorry, but Sasuke just can't come with us. He hasn't signed the toad contract anyway. Even if I offered it to him, I don't think he'd be able to take it anyway…"

Naruto bristled at what he thought to be an insult towards his friend,

"And what's that supposed to mean!?"

Kakashi cleared his throat and answered for Jiraiya.

"Because he has his own contract to sign."

Said Kakashi, shocking the two genin in the room. Jiraiya, of course, had already spoken to Kakashi about this development, and had agreed that it would be the best course of action.

"I plan to personally tutor Sasuke on my own, having him sign the dog contract with me and possibly train with the Inuzuka clan to help better his relationship with his hounds. Plus, who better to train him with his Sharingan than me? Hopefully, I can also help him to contain his cursed seal and use it better to bring it to a point where he can use it in battle without any…side effects…"

Sasuke shuffled his feet awkwardly and mumbled something his breath.

"Sorry Sasuke, what was that?"  
Kakashi replied with a confused expression on his face.

Sasuke brought his eyes from the floor and locked eyes with his teacher. A new found determination burned in his eyes, throwing out all amount of doubt that anyone in the room had about him.

"I'll do it Kakashi-sensei. I won't let you down."

_Sasuke..._

Kakashi thought;

_There might be some hope for you yet._

"Alright kids, I guess we'll leave you to it."

Narut turned to Jiraiya with a white smile and said;

"I guess I'll see you once I can move again, eh Ero-sennin?"

"You got it brat."

Sasuke suddenly found himself clutching at Jiraiyas' arm as he went to jump out of the window.  
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow quizzically at the young Uchiha.

"Jiraiya-sama..."

Jiraiyas' eyebrow shot further up his face at the addition of the honorific to his name.

"I promise...I'll never treat Naruto like that again. Please protect him on your trip...there are a few people who want him back in one piece..."

A soft smile overtook Jiraiyas' features. He mumbled softly;

"I knew Naruto was right about you, kid."

And jumped from the window frame, to be lost in the streets below.

Sasuke struggled to a chair and sunk low into it, glad that he had said what he wanted to say to the toad-sage for a while. He knew how much Naruto looked up to him, and he was a kind of father-figure for Naruto.

"Well guys, I guess I'll take my leave as well. I'll see you in a few days Sasuke to begin our training. See you round."

Kakashi vanished in a shunshin before any of the boys could say a words to him.

Naruto and Sasuke sat stiffly in their hospital gowns, not saying a word to each other. The silence had started to bcome deafening.

"I can see you're tired Sasu-chan,"  
Naruto began with a tired grin.

"I guess it's time for us to get some rest, eh?"  
"Yeah, I guess so dobe."  
Sasuke began to rise to his feet and shuffle out of the room, when he was interrupted by Naruto.

"Sasuke...this isn't the end. You know that, right?"  
Sasuke paused for a moment,

"Yeah dobe...I know."

And with a wry smile, Sasuke left Naruto for sleep to claim him.

**Four days later**

The sun beat down upon the two friends as they stood at opposite sides of the large twin gates leading out of the hidden leaf village.  
After three hours of waiting, the two boys were starting to get restless.

"This is just like Kakashi-sensei and the Old Perv' to be this late! Typical!"

Sasuke grunted as usual, and appreared to be staring at the floor, before the suddenly raised his head and loked Naruto dead in the eye.

"Naruto,"

Sasuke called,

"Do you have that you could show me while we wait for our teachers? I'm tired of this waiting, and surely you've picked up something on your training trip with Jiraiya."

Naruto scratched his chin thoughtfully, before flashing a smile.

"That sounds like a great idea Sasuke. Let's go right now. Training ground nine?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Both of them quickly dashed off to training ground nine, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

**At Training Ground Nine**

"Alright Sasuke, I think I can show you a couple of jutsu before our senseis come looking for us. Although these are only C ranked jutsu, when they're used effectively they can easily be close to an A rank."

Sasukes' eyes sparked in anticipation at Narutos words, but remained silent.

"The first technique I'm going to teach you is the quick-sink jutsu. It softens the earth in an area enough to be able to suck people quickly underground. It's kinda like a really weak version of Jiraiyas swamp of the underworld jutsu. I can only really sink peoples' feet at the moment, but with more chakra control, you can easily swallow an entire person whole! Watch this."

Naruto focused on the ground infront of him and focused his chakra.  
"Quick-sink Jutsu!"

The ground around Sasukes' feet became loose, and suddenly started pulling his down into the earth. But before Sasuke could panic, Naruto shut off the jutsu.

"See what I mean Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave a small smirk at his friend, before replying with a hint of annoyance in his voice,

"Yeah yeah dobe, now how do I get you of this thing?"

"You gotta focus your chakra into tiny particles. Imagine those particles moving into the earth around your ankles. Now, imagine those particles pushing the dirt aside, while also pushing your feet up at the same time."

Sasuke focused for a second, before slowly filtering his chakra into the surrounding earth.

Slowly but surely, his feet began to move upwards, until he was standing on solid ground again.

"Great job Sasuke! The first time Ero-sennin tried to teach me that one, I was stuck in the ground for a whole day!"

Sasuke felt a small amount of pride well in his chest, but he quickly pulled it back in before he could gloat at the praise his friend was giving him.

"Alright, this one is a wind style jutsu. I made it myself. I like to call it the slap-bash. Stretch your palm out flat, as if you're going to slap someone. Then, try to focus your chakra evenly across your palm. Built the chakra higher up on your palm, and then try to compress it so that it's very small. Now, when you go up for the slap, expand your chakra with as much force as you can!"

Naruto turned to a nearby training dummy and quickly sent a slap at its head. The entire dummy exploded into a mess of dust and sharp chunks of wood as Naruto flared the chakra on his palm just before impact.

Sasuke was stunned to say the least. Without thinking the procedure through, Sasuke ran to a nearby tree and prepared his hand for the slap.  
Sasuke gathered his chakra, but at the last moment realised it was too spread out along his palm and tried to compress his chakra just before he hit the tree.

A powerful shock wave of air threw Sasuke back through the air. Naruto took a running leap and managed to guide his friend down to the ground safely.

"Sasuke, you didn't compress your chakra well enough, and you didn't expand at at all. When chakra is compressed like that, it's extremely volatile. You have to be careful when using your chakra like this. Are you ok?"

Sasuke bit back a groan as he stood to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I couldn't get that damn jutsu though..."

"Don't sweat it Sasuke. Maybe wind just isn't your affinity. Plus, it's a really hard technique to get down. Don't beat yourself up about it too much."

Sasuke gave another grunt as a reply, but turned to Naruto.

"Alright dobe, my turn to teach."

Naruto sat on the ground and crossed his legs infront of Sasuke, leaning in a little to hear what he had to say.

_Tcch, what a baby  
_Sasuke though to himself with a smirk.__

"I'm going to try and teach you an extremely basic form of the chidori. I call it the buzz-saw jutsu. Basically, you try to focus lighning chakra to your fingertips, while you turn you wrist very quickly in a circle. It's great for inflicting wouldnd on people that you want to save for interrogation."

Sasuke moved to a tree to demonstrate his technique, and started to gather lightning chakra to his fingertips.

"Buzz-saw jutsu!"

Sasuke rushed towards the tree and flicked his wrist in a circle as soon as his fingertips touched the tree.  
The effect was instantaneous. A deep, circular gouge had been cut unto the tree The edges of the cut were still smoking from the release of energy used in the lightning attack.

Naruto widened his eyes at this, but awkwardly raised his hand to his friend.

Sasuke face-palmed, and replied a little warily,

"What is it Naruto?"

Naruto swallowed a bit before saying,

"I...I don't think I'll be able to focus that much lighting chakra on my fingers..."

"That's alright Naruto. Lighting can be a bit of a painful element to work with at the best of times. Just try to exercise every so often by building the lighting chakra in one finger, and trying to get it to jump to your other fingers. Keep it going for as long as you can"

Naruto visibly sighed in relief at this, but pulled himself closer in to Sasuke to hear about his second technique.

"The next technique I want to show you is called the burning sheen. It's not so much jutsu, as a form of elemental manipulation. I think you should be able to get it though. He idea is to add a layer of fire chakra to a part of your body. This could prevent attackers from fully attacking you, hurt attackers f they get too close, and even strengthen some of your attacks if used well. Watch me."

****Sasuke gathered his chakra for a moment before his arms suddenly burst into flame. Naruto yelped at the sight of the flames, but calmed down when he saw that the flames weren't actually harming Sasuke. His clothes weren't even getting burnt.

Sasuke killed the flow of his chakra and the flames went out immediately

"Now Naruto, be careful when trying this for the first..."

Sasuke was cut off by a panicking Naruto, whos' pants were rapidly beginning to ignite. The flames were starting to spread to his jacket, before Sasuke threw him in the close by lake.

"If you would have let me finish, you would have heard what I was about to say!",  
Grumbled Sasuke.

"The hard part isn't creating the burning-sheen...the hard part is keeping the flames confined to one area without letting them go out of control and burning you. You should really practice nearby a water source with that technique..."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, before a 'poofing' sound alerted them to someones' presence.  
After finding no one around, Naruto looked up to find a red toad perched on his head.

"Yo! Gamakichi! How's it hanging?"

**"Yo, what's up bro?"**  
Replied Gamakitchi as he smiled warmly at Narutos' face from above. Gamakichi then turned to Sasuke a little stiffly, and said with great difficulty,

**"Uchiha. Kakashi Hatake requests your presence at the main gate. That is all."**

Sasuke felt bad for the little toad. His main job was to look after Naruto, and after everything Sasuke had done to him, he knew that the toad must have felt like a failure.

"Thankyou very much Toad-sama. I appreciate your message greatly. Is there some kind of way I can reward you for your services?"  
Sasuke replied, followed by a warm smile.

Gamakichi was stunned, but managed to stammer out,

**"C..C..Candy. I l..l..like candy..."**

Sasuke smiled again, and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small bag of candy and passed it to the little toad.

Gamakichi was a little stunned by the exchange, but suddenly broke into a wide grin.

**"Thanks Uchiha-san!"**

"Don't mention it. And please, call me Sasuke."

**"You got it Uchiha-san! Anyway, I gotta run Naruto. Jiraiya-sama's been looking all over for ya'!"**

Naruto grinned at the exchange between Sasuke and Gamakichi, but replied quickly,

"Thanks Gamakichi! I guess I'll see you soon, huh?"

**"Yeah, for sure bro. Anyway, bye!"**

And with a 'poof' of smoke, Gamakichi was gone.

Sasuke and Naruto turned to each other, before Sasuke stuck out his right hand.

"Thanks for a good training session Naruto. I hope you keep practising those techniques I showed you so that we can have a proper spar again when we get back."

Naruto grinned,

"Thanks Sasuke. Thanks for a cool training session too. I guess we'll just have to see how strong we are when we get back, aren't we?

Now it was Sasukes' turn to grin.

"That sounds like a plan."

The two boys shook hands as the sun started to skim the hill behind them.

**Chapter End**

AN:  
Sorry for taking so long with this chapter guys. I've had a lot of school work, but I should have the next chapter up in a couple of day. Happy reading folks, and please keep the reviews coming! 


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